HOOVER – Getting sacked 34 times last season – and hit even more than that – won’t change how Austin Allen plays football.

“No one cares how hard you get it,” Allen said during Monday’s SEC media days. “It’s all about where that ball ends up. If that means you have to take a shot under the chin. Your job is to get the ball to those guys and do whatever it takes to get first downs and touchdowns to win the game.”

You got to love this guy’s heart, courage and toughness. His teammates certainly do.

“To see him get knocked down like that Texas A&M game, every play, regardless of what happens, that motivates everybody,” Arkansas senior defensive back Kevin Richardson II said. “A defensive player can see that and say, ‘Man, that’s the toughest guy in the country.”

As admirable as it is for Allen to deliver the ball in pocket under pressure, the Razorbacks don’t want or need their senior quarterback to go through another season of getting knocked around all over the place.

“It’s a touchy subject that I don’t like to talk about,” Arkansas senior center Frank Ragnow said. “It’s cool because you know you’ve got such a tough guy, but then again, you don’t want your tough guy being hit like that. That’s one thing we’re trying to set the tone is that’s unacceptable and embarrassing and it shouldn’t happen anymore.”

Allen led the SEC in passing yards last season with 3,430, threw 25 touchdowns to 15 interceptions, but became more known for his toughness and resolve.

“Like he’s taking hits from Myles Garrett, the No. 1 overall draft pick, and he’s getting back up and throwing the ball downfield,” Richardson said. “He’s given it everything he’s got. If that doesn’t motivate you, I don’t know what does. That’s the best player in the country to me.”

Arkansas coach Bret Bielema has prided himself on having the biggest and best offensive lines in the nation dating back to his time at Wisconsin. He has given his offensive line special treatment.

However, his front let the Razorbacks down far too often when it came to protecting Allen.

Alabama sacked him seven times. Virginia Tech dropped Allen six times while Missouri and Louisiana Tech each took him down four times.

“One of the major issues with us last year in protection and taking care of our quarterback and being able to run a football is we did not have enough of SEC quality offensive linemen in our program,” Bielema said. “I myself had not done what I needed to do to give us the numbers early on in those classes to get us there. Or some guys left a little early because they played well.

That has to change if Arkansas is going to bounce back from going 7-6 last season.

“I feel really, really good about where that group is,” Bielema said. “I like the fact that they've taken some shots and they've survived, and I really think they're in a mode to really prove some things this fall.”